Nolinor to expand regional freighter capacity with Natilus Kona

Montreal-based Nolinor Aviation has committed to the Natilus Kona blended-wing-body cargo aircraft to grow its freighter capacity and complement its 737-200 operations in remote regions of northern Canada. Nolinor has secured multiple production slots with Natilus for the aircraft, but Nolinor President Marco Prud’homme declined to provide specifics, saying, “I don’t have enough reserve slots for how many aircraft I would like to have. Obviously time will tell if we can have more.” [caption id="attachment_57148590" align="aligncenter" width="2459"] Nolinor hopes the Kona will unlock new opportunities. (Courtesy/Natilus)[/caption] Flexibility is key The Kona appeals to Nolinor because it can be equipped with gravel kits on the landing gear for operation on unpaved runways like its 737-200s, and because it will be well suited for last-minute requests involving smaller shipments, such as a single piece of mining equipment, Prud’homme said. “Obviously, putting this kind of equipment on a -200 would be overkill because we’re going to use maybe 5% of the capacity of the aircraft,” he said. “But the Kona, if we had it today, would for sure be a great solution for this problem.” The Kona will also open other new opportunities for Nolinor. “I think it’s going to be very interesting when we talk about cargo,” Prud’homme said. “Amazon and all those big players want to reach the end user as quickly as possible. That’s hard to do if you have an aircraft that goes only once every two weeks, so having a smaller aircraft is going to create more flexibility and more repeat business.” Gravel kits A lot of work goes into gravel kits for the 737-200F, Natilus co-founder and Chief Executive Aleksey Matyushev told Cargo Facts . “They’re very engineering-heavy and I think there are a lot of reasons why Boeing, Airbus or other competitors are really not looking to put those gravel kits back on newer types of airplanes,” he said. Natilus will modify the lower portion of the blended wing airframe to protect the belly from gravel, but the engines will only require a few adjustments since they will be installed on top of the aft section of the fuselage, Matyushev said. The Kona’s performance characteristics are like large regional freighter turboprops capable of operating on unpaved runways, he added. Complementing 737-200s Nolinor expects to take delivery of its first Kona around the end of the decade, but isn’t in any rush as the charter specialist intends to continue operating its cargo-door-equipped 737-200s for up to twenty years, Prud’homme said. Natilus pushed service entry of the first Kona to around 2028 as the company awaits delivery of parts and supplies on order, Matyushev told Cargo Facts . “We have all the major suppliers already in play,” he said. “We’re waiting for them to produce the parts for us. I’m sure you know aviation supply chains are still struggling, so certain things are definitely taking a lot more time than what we originally expected.” The Kona is designed to carry 4.3 tonnes of payload at an average cruising speed of 220 knots up to 900 nautical miles. It will reduce fuel burn by 30% and emissions by 50%, according to a joint release from Natilus and Nolinor today. Nolinor becomes the second known conventional airline to sign a commitment for the Kona. Dallas-based Ameriflight announced a deal for twenty units in January 2023. While Canada has seen a wave of ATR freighter movement in the past couple of years — including, most recently, KF Aerospace and Air Creebec — and De Havilland is developing three conversions for the Dash 8-400 , Nolinor believes being one of the first movers on a new aircraft like the Kona will give it an edge. “At this point today, we don’t see anything else,” Prud’homme said. “I would say there are different turboprop solutions, but if you come into a market and you’re trying to compete with people who already have the same type of aircraft that you have, what are you really bringing to the market?” Register now for Cargo Facts' essential regional events for industry stakeholders: Cargo Facts LATAM 2025 on Feb. 10-11 at the Pullman Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport in Brazil; Cargo Facts Asia 2025 on March 24-26 at the W Shanghai in China; and Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 on May 6-8 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus in Turkey.

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